Chancellor of Germany is calling for open society in Russia. In particular, civil society organisations, in her opinion, should get equal voices. However, with all that she has overlooked the fact, that the human rights situation in Germany is more dramatic than the German government would like to admit. Thousands of German families are unjustly deprived of their children, as a result of bureaucratic arbitrariness of the Youth Office (Jugendamt).
With fine words, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for an open society in Russia.
“Open society is a guarantee of prosperity”, she said on the 6th of January 2014 in Hanover, at the opening of the world’s largest industrial exhibition. According to her, “cooperation between the two countries will be better when there is an active civil society”. NGOs should get a “better chance” in developed and open society, Merkel said. For these worthless words, German Chancellor received applause from her henchmen.
The underlying reason for all these was the inspection by the Russian prosecutor’s office of the German foundations. Unsuccessful candidate for German chancellorship from the Social Democrat Party (SPD) Peer Steinbrück said in an interview to the Zeit Online magazine:
“Russia cannot be measured by the extent of Western democracy. Russia is our partner, whose interests we know well and should take them into account”.
Situation in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own country is causing serious concerns from the “civil society” and human rights point of view. Most people know this, but few mention or discuss it. The human rights situation in Germany, according to the UN, is not satisfactory.
Police violence, arbitrariness of officials, racism and discrimination are essential problems in Germany, which are looming large day by day. They have led to the killings of people by the nazis of the National Socialist Underground (NSU). Moreover, these stories are silenced. Public discussions of the main issues related to the “civil society” in Germany are actually not published in the press and are not discussed in Parliament.
European countries are tired of Germany, especially after the murders by the NSU nazis of foreigners and concealment actions on the part of public security organs, which are designed to hide violations by the officials of a number of regulatory organisations and politicians.
As never before, Germany finds itself in the swamp of corruption, greed and machinations of various lobby groups, which court politicians and bureaucrats. Often with success, as we know today. Corruption in Germany has become a commonplace affair. Its victims are the very “civil society” and the “rule of law”, which Frau Merkel cares so much about in other countries.
Unprecedented cases of bureaucratic arbitrariness occur in the Youth Offices functioning under the courts of the Advisory System for Family Affairs.
Advisory System of Courts for Family Affairs and Youth Offices (FJGS) deprives parents of their civil rights and takes away every day about 100 children from their families, which supposedly need “help”. Civil society in Germany suffers from that for many years. Affected parents try unsuccessfully to be heard on the Internet. Appeals to the prosecutor’s office, as well as to the Federal Criminal Police Office are “heard”, but nobody wants to intervene in this situation and criminal police obviously will not conduct such investigations.
All of them are walking away from such cases. Why? Frau Merkel also dislikes speaking about this particular problem with the Youth Office. Better to take care of “civil society” in Russia. That is, it is easier to see the mote in another’s eye, rather than recognise the beam in one’s own.
But the situation with the Family and Youth Affairs Courts is more than a negative, it is disastrous. Foreign governments are fighting against the practices of the German Youth Offices, including Ankara. But to no avail. Arbitrariness in courtrooms in many German cities is evident here too. It seems that in some regions (Münster, Osnabrück), in legal investigations under the “Law on the procedure in the family affairs”, the main task of the court is to remove children from their families on invented grounds like “empathy failure” or “upbringing inability”.
In such cases, mothers are divested of parental rights. This does not exist anywhere in the world. Children are taken away because of the so-called “inability to up bring” and very often, it happens without a court decision. Explanation of the Federal Constitutional Court states, “custody over a child can be annulled when and only when there is a “threat to the child” in the family”.
Rules of the Civil Procedure Code do not get us anywhere. This means that there are “no legal proceedings ex parte parents, who has become victims of arbitrariness”.
Typically, this is done through a court-appointed “special expert”, who gives advice and sometimes makes a decision by himself. But as the Youth Office is practically one of the divisions of the Family Court, no one wants to listen to the parents (so-called “conflict of interest”). In connection with this, it certainly becomes clear what decisions such “experts” are bound to take.
Experts convict parents in such a way that it is not possible to find a single word in their defence, since the parents are forced to play with their children “like monkeys in a cage”, on the basis of which an expert can determine whether the parents are “capable of upbringing”. This scandal, which has no equal in the history of post-war Germany, has caused outrage among foreign governments, and rightly so!
German authorities seek to ensure that all remains within, nothing should come out. Such processes are only typical of dictatorships, but it is a reality in family court proceedings in Germany. This also applies to Turkish and Russian children in Germany. Putin reminded about these scandalous practices in Germany, and Ankara has also intervened in this affair.
It is a strange and no clear reality in Germany. Parents want to file complaints in accordance with the Criminal Code.
Affected by bureaucratic arbitrariness parents demand possibility to file actions for family affairs in a court in accordance with the Criminal Code. In this case, parents will be at least able to protect themselves and their children, because the family courts do not consider the facts and evidence, if they are in favour of the parents. They only recognise the assumptions and “opinions” of the Youth Offices, which typically consist of nothing more than a set of speculations, hypotheses and assumptions.
Statement of an “anonymous source” whose identity is scrupulously protected and the court-appointed expert’s opinion are crucial. Nowhere in the world, there is such a shameful practice of trials like this. Such jurisprudence is a huge challenge for the civil society in Germany. Because nobody in the world feel themselves as powerless against the tyranny of the state, as in Germany.
In addition, the Youth Office staff does not have to prove anything. They just allege something. Reports of the so-called “social workers” about the alleged problems in families are not infrequent. And these “messages” are also used as evidence against the parents.
But no one warns parents that everything they say or do will be ruthlessly used against them. It is a cruel game imposed on parents.
Orphanages receive up to 14,000 euros per month for each child. Good business.
Russian, Polish, Italian parents are also concerned that their children are being taken away. Foreign governments, most of all the Polish government, talk about the “germanisation” of their children and the abduction of children from families. Even if it were only hints, it could become a big problem for Germany. Unfortunately, these are not just hints but the bitter reality in modern Germany.
Madeleine Albright once asked the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Joschka Fischer, why the German courts approved of child abduction? She did not get a clear answer. Fisher only said that even the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany was not allowed to criticise the German courts. This is an obvious fear of Germany, the German courts and the security services.
And very quickly you can get an “incapability” status and appointed a guardian. Nowhere in the world people are disabled as fast as in Germany. Citizens who fiercely defend themselves in courts against injustice, in a very short time will be recognised as “of diminished responsibility” and declared mentally incapable. This is already a rule. And what about the rights of civil society in the Family Litigation Chambers, Frau Chancellor? Wouldn’t you like to add there also a bit of openness?
Over the years, thousands of people protest against human rights violations in the Federal Republic of Germany. Just last year, 40,000 children were forcibly taken away from their parents. In 2011, 38,500 children were taken away. The massive nature of taking children away from their parents is an incredible and monstrous fact. It is time to call things by their proper names.
Those, who benefit from taking children under their custody, are working together with those, who take these children away. But Frau Merkel calls for an open civil society in Russia. Although her voice is much quieter. At least she no longer blames Russia for its human rights situation. Because she knows that in doing so, she will be disgracing herself. In Germany, human rights, as well as children’s rights, the rights of parents and family rights are violated more often than in Russia.
Ria Ali Ashley – Freelance journalist
According to human rights activist Dmitry Adamov, “the situation with removing children from their families is really catastrophic. Very often, people turn to me through social networks telling about such stories. Very often, mother does not even know where her child is – in a foster family or an orphanage. These are the sad consequences of juvenile justice. And those who think it will not concern them are naïve people. It can happen to any family. In addition, those are naïve, who believe that the juvenile justice system is a law on the rights of children. There are no parental rights in juvenile justice. The Law does not have provisions about non-intervention in the family affairs and, therefore, does not provide for protection of a child and his/her natural environment. Independence of a family and its right to decide issues of family life, the right of parents to set priorities for upbringing and education of their children and family life are reduced to zero. There are no traditional parent-child relationships, originating from the subordination of juniors to seniors; a good practice in the family inspiring respect for elders is destroyed. At the same time, there has appeared an unlimited possibility of interference of various structures into the family affairs and limiting the natural rights of parents not only for the birth of a child, but his upbringing in their chosen system of values. All this is sad”.
Director of the European Information Centre for Human Rights in Strasbourg Garri Mourei has also expressed his position on the legal tyranny that reigns in Germany:
“The situation with human rights, which is developing today in Germany, causes a lot of serious concern for the international human rights organisations. Despite the fact that the authorities are trying not to give special attention to the mass flow of complaints by ordinary citizens about violation of their rights with various European and international organisations, it becomes more and more difficult for Berlin to put a brave face on a sorry business, trying to hide its failures and troubles under the outward calm. Therefore, in the last few years, apparently anticipating such scenarios, the German state became increasingly involved in various international projects related one way or another to the theme of human rights in various parts of the world, while introducing its own officials to the relevant international organisations, not least in order for them to repel and neutralise numerous and sometimes very serious claims against Germany. As an example, one can just look at a populist propaganda activities of UN special rapporteur Heiner Bielefeldt, or judge of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Hans-Peter Kaul, renowned for his bluntly cynical and voluntaristic position.
In most countries of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, they are well aware that in Germany itself, the authorities are no longer guided by the letter of the law when making decisions. Even in law enforcement, German officials are acting not under the country’s laws, but purely based on their own rules and personal beliefs.
Of course, we cannot leave without attention activities of human rights organisations and institutions in Germany. Unfortunately, it so happened that all the more or less significant social and human rights organisations are under the scrutiny of the German state and their activities are fully regulated by the state. German offices of such organisations as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International or German Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has long been on the financial needle of the German state, receiving serious grants and aid from the state, directly and through various private foundations and companies, so to hide the involvement of the German government structures. Established nearly 11 years ago “Human Rights Forum” (Forum Menschenrechte), close to the German state institutions, includes today no more than 50 human rights organisations, which, in spite of the goals prescribed by their own statutes, do not participate effectively in serious public advocacy, but are actively used by the German state propaganda machine as a bright and model example of the existence in Germany of free and independent human rights organisations. German officials often invite them to various international events, symposia or congresses for presenting their own reports on the situation of human rights in Germany. Although human rights activists must mandatorily submit these reports beforehand to the Forum’s leadership, which in turn sends them for endorsement to the German Foreign Ministry, it is impossible to get a true and unbiased picture of the situation with human rights in the country from reports and essays of organisations fully committed to the state.
In January last year, Germany has once again managed to get a cherished place in the UN Human Rights Council. The German state needs the place in this distinguished body not in order to tell the world about how the authorities of Germany for more than 10 years openly and without any fear of international condemnation forcibly take money from elderly and infirm old people coming to the country and whose only crime is their belonging to the Jewish faith, or to tell us about how the authorities invite sick children and adults from the CIS countries for treatment, promising to provide all possible help and assistance and how it all turns out in the end for those unfortunate people. Certainly, I surmised in the past that some German medical institutions conduct experiments on patients, who come from Russia or Ukraine (German doctors are well aware that the authorities in these countries do not stand up for their citizens and they can be sure there will be no troubles). However, after an outrageous case of a minor boy from Russia Sergei Okhezin, whose treatment in Germany has led to an agonizing death of this child in the Klinikum Schwabing from a very obscure diagnosis – a sea of injustice, humiliation, indifference and exorbitant cruelty from the German side. The clinic was sending the child’s body back to Russia in parts because without any permission has removed all of Sergei’s internal organs. Or the case of a young man from Ukraine Vladislav Melanich, whom the unhappy parents foolishly placed for treatment in a boarding school for the disabled in Gera (Pflegeheim “Am Brieten-Bach”). The result of his treatment was death under unclear circumstances, bullying and humiliation by the authorities of Thuringia as well as the authorities’ refusal to return the body to his relatives.
It would have been possible to imagine that the German government would be ready to share with other member countries of the Human Rights Council the information on the situation in Germany with the rights of the homeless, whose number has already exceeded 850,000 people. Although the government of Germany likes to understate this data at least 3 times, but cannot prove the accuracy of their data. The reason for such differing data is that the German authorities categorically refuse to keep official statistics, and thus Germany is the only country in Europe where the official information on the state of rights of homeless people is secret and not subject to disclosure. You can imagine what a blow it would be to the image of a country, which considers itself the most social state in the world, when it turns out that almost 1 million people (approximately population of Cologne) are left to the mercy of fate and have no roof over their heads!
Well, the logical question is why the most democratic and legal state in the world joined the UN Human Rights Council in the first place? Germany designated for itself such priorities to work on as a member-state of the Council, as the fight against human trafficking, the right to a dignified life and access to sanitisation. Today, the government of Germany is extremely worried by the fact that nearly 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water and 2.5 billion people do not have toilets. At the same time, the world-renowned human rights activist and simultaneously President of Germany for one term (our hero hasn’t a cat-in-hell’s chance of securing the second term after an attempt to sabotage the Sochi Olympics), Joachim Gauck is not at all concerned that the European Union Directive 2011/36 (Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims) has not been implemented by his country into the relevant national legislation. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds her office for the third term, is not concerned that at a time, when in 90 countries with a population of 5.5 billion people representing 78% of the world’s population there are laws on free access to information, her country is an outsider. In 115 countries around the world with a population of 5.9 billion people or 84% of the total population living on the planet constitutions and basic laws uphold the right of citizens to free access to information, while in 5 federal lands of Germany people are deprived of this right completely.
For nearly 11 years, the government of Germany by all means blocks full-fledged ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption signed and ratified by 158 countries of the world with a population of 5.9 billion. The signing of this important document will finally force the authorities to start fighting against corruption and bribery, which blossom on Germany’s fertile soil. And it does not enter the plans of the incumbent political clans. While 43 member-states of the Council of Europe unconditionally signed and ratified the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption
CETS No.: 173, the German authorities have again showed their arrogant disrespect for other countries and refused to ratify the document. Thus, Germany is the only country in Europe, which has refused to ratify both the UN Convention against Corruption and the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
Touching upon the juvenile justice system in Germany, we can unambiguously establish the fact that the majority of laws in this area does not comply with European legal standards, as well as being contrary to the rules of international law in general and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in particular. Generally, in the fight against families who do not want to lose the dearest in the world for them – their children, the German government does not disdain from using the methods of the infamous East German security service “Stasi”. Parents and close relatives of children are exposed to legal and financial pressure; the Youth Office (Jugendamt) uses the administrative resources and families who dare to confront the all-powerful agency face countless troubles. They can be simply fired from their jobs on made up pretexts, landlords break their lease contracts, utility companies present exorbitant illegitimate bills for services, the police often maliciously provoke family members in order to find an excuse to further exert pressure. All this is done with one goal in mind – to break the will of the unfortunate family and establish the so-called “second front” in order to drain the family physically and financially and thus stop any resistance to lawlessness.
Indeed, in 2011 the Youth Office officials took away 38,500 children in Germany. That is 2,100 more than last year. Well, compared to 2007 the increase in the number of children taken away is 36%. All this is a perfectly monstrous picture that defies basic human understanding.
International human rights organisations have long demanded an independent inspection of actions of the Germany’s Youth Office and Family Courts. Activities of the Youth Offices on violent taking the children away and transferring them to orphanages or wealthy childless families have long turned into a successful business with the turnover comparable to the profits from the sale of drugs or arms trafficking. For example, just in the federal land of Bavaria Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (Erzbistum München und Freising) owns 60 orphanages with more than 15,000 children and receives from the federal government and the land budget between 5000 and 8000 euros for each child per month. Only in Germany, 35 to 40 billion euros per year from tax revenues are allocated in the budget for these purposes. Families are denied the right to communicate with the children taken away and even hide them abroad if necessary. Foreign children are firmly prohibited to speak in their native languages.
For our part, we have long demanded from German authorities to stop this barbaric practice and observe basic rights of children and their legal parents. Children need their birth parents very much and such a policy, which is carried out purposefully by the German authorities, should be discontinued. Otherwise, I foresee that in the next few years, many countries will have to host not only humanitarian refugees from Asia and Africa, but also victims of juvenile justice from Germany”.
